Method of and apparatus for securing piston rings prior to grinding or turning



May 20 1924. 1,494,913 I J, W. HUGHES 4 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FORSECURING PISTON RINGS PRIOR TO GRINDING OR TURNING Filed Feb. 8. 1923 2Sheets-Sheet 1 is Z ATTORNEYS.

METHOD OF Am) APPARATUS FOR SECURING PISTON RINGS PRIOR May 20 1924.

J. W. HUGHES TO GRINDING OR TURNING Filed Feb. 8, 1023 2 Sheets-$heet 2FIG-3 6 A w A 2 4 m fifl mfi/ Mn I M L ATTORNE Pat ented May 20, 1924.

UNITED STATES JAMES w. HUGHES, or

PATENT OFFICE.

WYNGOTE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM H. STEELE,- v O'I'"PIHZILAJI)ELIIE'HIIIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF AND API'AMTUS FOR SECURING PISTON RINGS PRIOR TO GIi'INDING vf OR TURNIDIG.

Application filed February 8, 1923. Serial No. 617,725.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, JAMES W. HUGHES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wyncote, in the county of Montgomery, 6 State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Method of'and Ap aratus forSecuring Piston Rings Prior to rinding or Turning, of which thefollowing is a specification. I

Hereto'fore, the ordinary method of binding or assembling and securingcut piston rings upon an arbor or mandrel prior to grinding or turning,has been to take each individual ring, squeeze it close to the piston ormandrel either manually or mechanically, and then wrap a wire around theouter periphery of each ring and twist the wire. ends together until thejuxtaposed ends comprising the joint of the circular piston ring aredrawn tightly together,ias sald joint nprmally appears when in workmgposition or in use.

After each ring has thus been wired they are assembled upon a mandrel inlots of 2 or 100, said mandrel being provided with a flange at eitherend and longitudinal bolts are provided for clamping these flangesagainst the outer rin s anil thus holdlng all the closed rings tig tlyin contact when assembled or mounted. As soon as the rings are mounted.and clamped firmly to ether sidewise by' means of the bolts and angesuntil the rings can no longer spring apart, *the wires are then cut fromeach-individual ring and the rings are collectively ground in thecylindrical form while thus assembled. By the foregoing procedure, muchtime is ex ended in assembling. and .wiring' the indivi ual rings, andthere is a considerable loss or waste in the wireused.

My invention does away with the necessity of wiring each ringindividually before mounting it upon the mandrel and comprises a novelconstruction of mandrel, comcommon thereto and an opter coyering orcylinder of rubber or other re'slllent materlal.

. It further consists of a novel, manner of prising a shaft, end walls,a cylindrical body.

. herein shown and described.

tion of a mandrel of the character above described, in.uOIljllIlCtlOIiWlth a feed screw,

. feed screw and the spring will be unwound therefrom and spirallywrapped around the assembled piston rings, so that the latterwill betightly compressed to the desired extent upon said mandrel, after whichthey are clamped while in compressed condition and the assembled mandreland rings can then be removed so that the. rings can be subjected to thesubsequent grinding or .other operations.

It further consists of a novel construction of a reel braking device,-coacting with the above elements.

It further consists of a novel manner of mounting and actuating both mynovel mandrel and thesp'ring carrying reel.

It furtherQconsistsof a novel method of binding or compressing pistonrings upon an arbor or mandrel, whereby. a plurality of rings, afterbeing out, are assembled and com ressed upon aresilient arbor by automatlcally winding a continuous flexible sprin of wire spirally over theouter perip cry of said rmgs as they areretained contiguous to eachother upon said resilient arbor, prior to their being clamped sidewisetightly together. v

g If further consists of other novel features of construction, all aswill be-hereinafter fully set-forth. I

For the purpose of illustrating my invention, I have shown in theaccompanying drawings forms thereof which are at present preferred bynae, since they will give in practice satisfa tory and reliable results,although it is to be understood that the various ,instrumentalitie s ofwhich my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and"that my 1nvent1on is not limited to the precise arrangement and or--ganization of these instrumentalities as v Figure 1 represents a planview of "one form of a novel apparatus for binding and clamping togetherout piston rings, prior to grinding or turning, wherein my novel methodmay be carried out.

Figure 2 represents an end view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 represents a section on line 33 of Figure 1. v

Figure 4'represents a section on line 44 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 represents a section on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 represents on an enlarged scale a section on line 66' of Figure3.

Figure 7 represents a perspective view of the resilient arbor ormandrel, seen in Figures 1 and 3, in detached position, showing aportion of the outer resilient covering broken away.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.-

"Referring to the drawings v 1 designates my novel construction ofapparatus, the same comprising a suitable. framework composed of theside or 'end members 2, 3 and 4, which are supported upon uprights orotherwise in any suitable manner and tied together by the front and rearrods 5 and 6.

7 designates a short driving shaft, which is rotatably mounted inthe-end bars 3 and 4, upon which is fastened the driving gear 8, theinner end of said shaft being provided with a seat 9, Whose end wallsare slotted as indicated at 10, so as to interlock with the transverselug or pin 11, which is located near the end of the shaft 12.

The driving shaft 7 and the gear 8 fast thereon can be rotatedmechanically or manually, and in the present instance, I have shown itas being provided with a crank handle 13 for manual operation.

The shaft 12 and its adjuncts, next to be described, constitute amandrel, arbor or ring support. 14 of novel design which is constructedas follows The arbor, mandrel or ring support 14 is composed of theouter heads 15 and 16,

which are engaged by the ends of the inner tube or cylinder 17 uponwhich is mounted the outer rubber cylinder or casing 18. The

end heads 15 and 16 are fast upon the shaft 1.2, and upon, the ends ofthe latter are loosely mounted the end .platesor, clamps 19 and 20, theend plate or clamp 19 being contiguous to the head 15', and the endplate or clamp 20 being contiguous to the head 16.

The outer peripheries ofthe clamping plates 19 and 20 extend beyond theperiphery of the heads 15 and 16, so-as to engage the sides of thecontiguous piston rings when said plates are clamped towards each other.

21 designates rods or long bolts,-which in the present, instance arethree in number and pass through the members 19, 15, 16 and 20 parallelto the shaft. 12, and are supplied with heads at one-end and nuts at theother end for the purpose of tightening the end plates 19 and 20 whendesired, so as to clamp said plates sidewise upon the compressed rings.

Upon the cover or resilient cylindrical body 18 I mount the cut pistonrings 22, as will be understood from Figures 1, 3, and

6. The end shaft 12 carrying the transverse wardlythrough the slot 26 ofsaid bearing.

27 designates a spring bearing on the center 23, tending to push thelatter inwardly into engagement with the contiguous end of the shaft 12.

28 designates a plug against which, one end of the spring 27 abuts,the-other end abutting against said center 23.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2,- it will be seen that the driving gear8 fast on the shaft 7 is in mesh with the idler 29 mount ed on the shaft30, which latter has its bearing in the end bars 3 and 4, said idler 29being in mesh with the driven gear 31, which is fast on the end 32 ofthe feed screw 33,

2 of the framework or housing.

The feed screw 33 has in engagement therewith the nut 34, which has anarm 35 through the outer end of which freely passes the rod 6 (as willbe understood from Figure4) said nut 34 being provided with the shoulder36 at one end and at the opposite end with the detachable plate 37. Theengagement of the arm 35 with the rod 6 prevents the n'ut from rotating.

The nut 37 has loosely mounted thereon, the hub 38 of the reel 39, whichis composed of the disks 40 and 41 between which the fiat spring or wire42 is contained.

The outer endof the spring or wire 42' is hooked over the hook 43, onthe clamping plate 20, see Figures 1 and 2, it being understood that theinner end of said spring is fast to the hub 38, so that as the arbor 14and the rings thereon are rotated the bindbeing threaded in the arm 35,as will be understood from Figure 4. so that the decompressed gree ofpressure of the shoe 47 upon. -the" disk 41 may be regulated.

48 designates an arm, which is secured to the hub 38 by the screws 49,said arm having provided with a bolt or other clamping means 51, wherebyit will be seen that when the bolt 51 is tightened, the jaws will bedrawn together and frictionally engage the feed screw 33 to the desiredextent.

The operation is as follows The mandrel 14 and its adjuncts, having beenremoved from the machine, the cut rings are assembled thereon, asseen inF igures 1 and 3, the inner periphery of said rin s being in contactwith the cylindrical rub er body 18, as will be understood from Figures3 and 6. V

The mandrel is then replaced in the machine and the end of the spring42engaged with the hook 43 so that the parts appear as seen in Fi res 1and 3. Upon the rotation of the crank 13, the shaft 12 will be rotated,and the gears 8, 29 and 31 and feed screw 33, the nut 34 will be rotatedand the reel' 39 and its adjuncts will move from the position seen infull lines in Figures 1 and 4 to the position seen in dotted lines inFigure 1. The spring or, binding means 42, as it travels longitudinallyof the feed screw 33 will be wound spirally upon the out rings 22as-will be evident from Figure 1 and the rings will thus be clamped orbandaged tightly down upon the resilient arbor body 18 and will betightly closed at their joints as is evident. The rotation of themandrel 14 and the rings carried thereby is simultaneous or sychronouswith the rotation of the feed screw 33 and the reel 39 carrying thebinding spring or wire will, during its travel, efi'ectively bind orbandage the rings tightly upon the resilient arbor body 18 as isevident.

When all the rings are bandage down upon the arbor as above described,the nuts on the elongated bolts or rods 21 are-then tightened, so thatthe clamps 19 and 20 will be drawn together and the rings 22 will betightly clamped thereby and positively prevented from spreading apartafter the wire or binding-device 42 is removed or unwound from them.

- After the nuts of the bolts 21 have been firmly tightened up, thespring 42.is unwound from the mandrel by a reverse op- 'eration and isre-wound upon the reel 39, the parts now appearing as seen in full linesin Figures 1 and 4.,

The mandrel 14 with the assembled com.- pressed and clamped piston ringsthereon 1s then removed from the machine and the rings are ground in anystandard grind ng machine, as maybe desired. The relatlve movements ofthe nut 34 and reel 39, relative to the feed screw 33 may be adjusted bythe manipulation of the bolts 45 and 51, as is evident.

It will be evident that b the emp'loyment of the novel mandreconstruction .above described having the resilient outer body 18, thatthe rings of varying sizes can be assembled upon the mandrel by reasonof the resiliency of said rubber body, so that one standard sizedmandrel is capable of use with piston rings of varying sizes.

The mandrel 14 and its adj unctsis readily assembled-within the machineby centering the end ofv the shaft 12 contiguous to the center '23 andmoving it outwardly against .the tension of the spring 27, after whichthe opposite end of the shaft 12 is interlocked within the seat 9 of thedriving shaft 7.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that my invention effects agreater saving in time and labor, which has heretofore been expended inassembling out piston rin prior to grinding or turning them and inaddition I eliminate entirely the waste of. the wire heretofore usedupon each individual ring. It will be evident that changes in theframework and in the manner of supporting and actuating the variousparts may be made Without departing from my invention, and that thebinding or bandaging element 42 may be a fiat spring or round wire.

Other equivalent means may be employed for simultaneously orsynchronously actuating thefeed screw 33 and its adjuncts and themandrel or arbor 14-and its adjuncts, so

as to-efi'ect the simultaneous unwinding of the binding means and thehelical wrapping or binding or compressing of the cut rings,

upon their resilient or cushioned support 18, and as I am the first inthe art to effect the foregoing steps or to produce any mechanism' ofthe character described, my claims are to be interpreted with the scopeaccorded to inventions of this character Having thus described myinvention what I claim as .new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. The method of securing cut piston rings, prior to grinding, whichconsists in assembling a plurality of said rings upon an arbor, windinga binding means spirally on the outer peripheries of said rings tocompress the latter upon said arbor and bring the opposed cut ends intojuxtapo sition, and lastly clamping said rings sidewise to retain themin compressed condition during subsequent operations.

2. The method of compressing and clamping cut piston rings upon an arborprior to grinding, which consists 1n assembhng a plurality of cutcompressible rmgs upon an arbor having a resilient body, tightly wlndinga binding means spirally on the outer peripheries of said rings tocompress the latter tightly upon said arbor, clamping saidrings tightly.together sidewise, and lastly unwinding said binding means from thecompressed clamped rings.

- spirally with respect to said arbor, and end clamping plates carriedby said arbor.

6. In a machine of the character stated, the combination of an arbor, aplurality of cut iston rings thereon, and means for winding acompressing device spirally around the outer peripheries of said rings.

7. In a machine of the character stated, an arbor, a plurality of cutpiston rings thereon, means for tightly winding a compressing device.spirally upon the outer peripheries of said rings, to compress the lat-,ter and means for clamping said rings sidewise tightly together.

8. In a machine of the character stated, an arbor, a plurality of cutpiston rings thereon, means for winding a compressing device spirallyupon the outer peripheries of said rings to compress the latter, meansfor clamping said rings sidewise tightly together, and means forunwinding said compressing means.

9. Ina machine of the character stated, an arbor for supporting pistonrings, comprisin a resilient outer cylinder, end clamping p atesofgreater diameter than said cylinder, and means for drawing said platestowards each other.

10. In a machine of the character stated, an arbor for supporting pistonrings, comrising a shaft, end heads fast thereon, an inner cylindercommon to said end heads, an outer resilient cover mounted on saidcylinder, clamping plates loose on said shaft and contiguous to said endheads, and means for drawing sai-d clamping plates toward each other.

'11. In a machine of the character stated,

. an arbor for supporting piston rings, com prising ashaft, end headsfast thereon, an

inner cylinder common to said end heads, an outer resilient covermounted on said cylin-der, clamping plates loose on said shaft andcontiguous to said end heads, means for drawing'said clamping latestowards each other, a driving means or one end of said arbor, a centerfor the-other end of said arbor and devices actuated from said arbordrivingmeans for winding a binding wire spirally with respect to saidarbor.

12. In a machine of the character stated, an arbor to support pistonrings, a feed screw, gearing common to said arbor and feed screw, a nutfor said feed screw, a reel loose on said nut, and a binding wire woundon said reel, and having one end attached thereto and the other endsecured to a portion of said arbor 13. In a machine of the characterstated, an arbor, adapted to support piston rings, a feed screw, gearingcommon to said arbor and feed screw, a nut for said feed screw, a reelloose on said nut, a. binding wire wound on said reel and having one endattached thereto and the other end secured to said arbor, and brakingmeans common to said nut and reel and to said reel and feed screw.

14. In a machine of the character stated, an arbor for supporting pistonrings, means for winding and unwinding a bindingdevice helically withrespect to said arbor, and means for adjusting and regulating the speedof the winding and unwinding operations.

15. In a machine of the character stated,

an arbor for supporting cut piston rings, a

an arbor having a resilient outer covering,

a feed screw arranged in parallelism to said arbor, gearing common tosaid arbor and feed screw, a nut for said feed screw, means forpreventing said nut from rotating, a reel loose on said nut and carriedthereby,- and a binding wire wound on said reel and having one endattached thereto, and the other end detachably secured to a portion ofsaid arbor.

JAMES W. HUGHES.

Witnesses: G. D. McVAY,

EMILY IZORA Voomns.

